I
Not too scary, but twice this week I heard news people exclaiming "TMI!"
without definition. (I brought it up here a couple of years back.) It
stands for "Too much information!" and its effective meaning is "That
information is distressing/ tedious/ disgusting!"
II
More frightening: Dr. Drew and his guests revealed last night that "granny
porn" has become extremely profitable. No definition is needed. The
pornsters "have a word, 'GILF.' It means 'Granny I'd Like to Fornicate
With.'" So it's like MILF, but more age-appropriate. Of course, to keep
things in perspective, it's still possible to be a granny at 30. Of course,
that could make the whole phenomenon even more disturbing.
III
Ali Velshi revealed on CNN that the latest edition of the Scrabble
Dictionary allows "slang" like "thang" and "innit" ("Isn't it?"). (He didn't
mention "wuzzup," but that must count too.) He then asked his panel of news
sophisticates whether the inclusion of slang was "Just a good business
decision, or a [ahem!] Sign of the Apocalypse [rim-shot!]."
At first, two out of three went for SOTA, but Christine Romans, not suckered
by Ali's false dichotomy, opined it was both, and the others fell into line.
JL
--
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org